


Can You Mend My Heart Too?

by BriMarie



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: AU, Banter, F/M, Fluff, Nini Salazar roberts - Freeform, Secret Crush, Teasing, hsmtmts, ninixricky, rickini, ricky bowen - Freeform, rickyxnini, rini - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24622576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BriMarie/pseuds/BriMarie
Summary: In which Nini bonds with her buildings repair man and tries to find an excuse for him to come and fix something.
Relationships: Ricky Bowen & Nini Salazar-Roberts, Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Comments: 10
Kudos: 81





	Can You Mend My Heart Too?

**Author's Note:**

> Based off a Gruvia fanfic I read some years ago.

When Nini was told by the former owners that the place needed a little TLC, they weren’t kidding.

Her apartment had a few loose screws, faulty faucets, and she was pretty sure she spotted some mold near her bathroom sink.

She would’ve aimed for a more upscale complex if she had the money, but she was a 22 year old who was fresh out of college. She didn’t want to live with her moms because she felt it was time to step out of her comfort zone. She had a 9-5 job at a record shop a few blocks away that only paid her $9.50 an hour, so it’s not exactly like she had a choice.

The former owners had left the name and number of the buildings repair man stating that she would most definitely need him, and that he was really sweet.

She was just going to ignore the few problems she had with her place not really wanting to pay for services. Well that is until she turns on her kitchen sink and it begins to spurt warm water to her face soaking her white blouse.

Faucet: 1  
Nini: 0

She groaned and began to type in the number of the repair man into her phone. It rang two times before he answered.

“Uh hello?” A groggy voice said on the other line.

By the sounds of it, he probably had just woken up from a nap. She sort of felt bad for waking him, but a messed up faucet wasn’t something you could ignore long.

“Hi um is this Richard Bowen the repair man for the Villa Rica apartment complex?”

“Uh yeah what’s up?” 

His voice seems more awake, and she can hear the creaking of a bed in the background.

“Hi my name is Nini Salazar-Roberts, and I live in apartment 101. My kitchen faucet is spurting water at me, and I don’t know how to fix it.”

She hears him sigh into the phone.

“Yeah cool I’ll be there in like ten seconds.” He said abruptly before hanging up the phone.

Judging by his tone, she had a feeling that maybe the former owners were over exaggerating on how nice he was. He seemed like he really didn’t want to be bothered.

Sure enough, she heard knocking on the door about 9 seconds after she called. Wow she didn’t really think he meant it when he said ten seconds.

She opened the door and was greeted by a very tall curly headed brunette man with blond tips. He was dressed as what she expected a stereotypical skater boy would dress like. He had black vans, ripped jeans, a white t-shirt with a red & black plaid button down shirt on top. She definitely wasn’t expecting him to be so young, especially someone so...attractive.

“You Nini Salazar-Roberts?”

She snapped back to reality and nods her head.

He lifts up his toolbox. “You called for a repair man?”

She nods again and mentally kicks herself for not using her words.

He makes a small grin. “So are you gonna let me in or what?” He asks jokingly.

She blushes and opens the door wider for him to enter. “Oh yeah sorry come in. I’ll show you what I’m talking about.” He follows behind her to the kitchen. 

“You know I didn’t expect you to actually be here in ten seconds.” 

He chuckles under his breath. “Yeah well I am a man of my word.” He begins to play with the faucet and gets a little of the water on him.

“Do you live on this floor, or do you have some sort of super speed like Quicksilver or something?” 

He gives her a smirk, and she almost melts into a puddle right then and there. She feels so ridiculous. No stranger has ever made her feel this bubbly.

“Yeah I’m actually a superhuman who has the ability to run 60 mph.” He jokes.

“Do you now? Huh I’m jealous.”

“Yeah well you know how it is. Gotta hide my powers from the public so I don’t get too much attention.”

She laughs at his joke causing him to smile along with her.

He puts his attention back on the matter at hand while she watches from the edge of her counter. She watches as he tinkers with screws and pipes that she would never dare to touch unless she had to.

“To answer your question, yes I do live on this floor.” He says out of the blue.

“Oh yeah, which apartment?”

“You seriously think I’d just give my address to someone I just met today?”

“Well it only seems fair that I know where you stay since you know where I live now.”

He pretends to think about her words resting his hand on his chin. “You know, you gotta point there.” He pauses to screw a nail. “I live at the end of the hall. All of the repair men do in this building, so it’s easy to find us.”

She makes a mental note to remember that. You know, just in case something breaks again. He makes a few more reparations before getting up and turning on the faucet. He smiled when the faucet didn’t spray him again pleased with his work.

“Welp, my work here is done.” He put all of his tools back in his box and picked it up from the ground.

“Oh thank you so much! How much do I owe you?” She began reaching into her wallet, but felt his hand push it down. 

“No need. Since it’s your first week, I’ll let this slide.”

She furrowed her brows up at him. “But I insist.”

“And I reject.”

He began walking to the door before turning around again.

“Oh if you need me again, just call or knock. Also, that faucet is gonna be a little weird for a few days until it starts acting normal consistently.”

“Thanks again Richard.”

He grimaces at the mention of his name. “Ew never call me that. No one under 50 should be called Richard. Just Ricky is fine.”

She couldn’t agree more. “Well Just Ricky, I will see you for the next repair.”

He playfully rolls his eyes. “I’m counting the minutes.”

He smirks and closes the door behind him. The moment he closes the door, she lets out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding in. She also noticed that her face had been burning and wondered if she had been blushing the whole time.

She has never been more excited for a house reparation in her life.

***

Two weeks have passed since Ricky first came over, and she hated to admit that she actually was smitten by him. Lucky for her, she needed to have her WiFi fixed since it’s been glitchy for the past few days.

She worked up the nerve to type in his number again (it took her a total of 5 minutes to do so). He picks up after the third ring. 

“Hello?”

She notices he sounds much more awake and alert than their first call. She feels a grin form on her face just by the sound of his voice.

“Hey Ricky it’s me Nini do you remember me?” She asks hopefully.

“Ah yes apartment 101 right?”

She smiles stupidly because he remembered her.

“Yep, that’s me. I actually do need your assistance again with my WiFi. It’s been acting up since Monday. Can you come over?”

“Yeah of course. I’ll be there in a second.” He says before hanging up.

A few seconds later, she hears a knock on her door. She runs to the closest mirror to check her appearance. When she’s satisfied with herself, she opens the door.

He smiles and holds up his toolbox. “Hello miss, I’ve been summoned by a very pretty lady stating she needed her WiFi fixed.” 

She smirks and opens the door wider for him. He struts in and began approaching her WiFi extender. She tries her best to ignore the growing butterflies in her stomach.

“You flatter me.” She finally says.

“It’s part of the job.”

“Oh is it now? I didn’t realize flirting with the customer was acceptable in this neck of the woods.”

“Neck of the woods? What’re you 60?” 

She rolls her eyes. “Oh hush.”

He laughs as he begins to play with the small extender. “Well flirting is a good way to get tips.” 

“Oh so you’re a repair man and a member of a host club? Is there anything you can’t do?”

He looks up at her, and she feels her heart skip a beat. 

“Only people who’ve been to host clubs know what a host club is sweetheart.”

“Using that logic, that means you’ve been to one too. Plus, maybe I know what it is because I watched anime growing up.” 

He gets a twinkle in his eye. “Oh snap, you like anime too? I grew up watching it alongside my buddy Big Red.”

“Big Red?” She asks giving him a confused expression. 

“Yeah long story.” He waves it off. “Anyways, which shows did you watch?”

She thinks about it for a second before answering. “Well I have to say my favorites were Naruto and Yuri on Ice.”

He gives her a nod of approval. “Great choices, mine were One Piece and Boku no Hero.” 

“Ah a man with taste!”

He chuckles as he does the last few finishing touches on the extender. He plugs in the object and pulls out his phone to see if he can connect to it. When it did, he got up from his spot.

“Another job well done.” She says with an impressed face. 

He pretends to be shy from being overwhelmed with her compliment. “Oh please don’t give me a fathead, you flatter me too much Salazar-Roberts.”

She begins to reach for her wallet, but he motioned for her to stop. 

“Nope, won’t take any money from you.”

“I don’t understand why you won’t take my money. I should give you something at least for your work.”

“It’s really no big deal. I’ll just be heading out. Let me know if you need anything else.”

She steps in front of him before he can leave. “Wait I feel bad letting you walk out empty handed. I have some leftover cookies I baked earlier if you’d like any.” 

He beams at her offer, and she takes that as a yes. She runs to the pantry and takes out the cookies. “Here take em all.” She holds them out in front of him.

“Don’t you want some? After all, they’re your cookies.”

She shoved them in his hand and puts his fingers around them. “Don’t fight me on this.” She says pointing a finger at him. He laughs nervously and holds up his hands in surrender.

“Damn okay I’ll take the cookies.” She follows him to the door to lock him out. Before he leaves, he turns around to face her. He’s really close to her, and she has to crane her neck to look up at the man.

“Thank you again; seriously it means a lot.” 

She smiles up at him. “You’re welcome, and you deserve it.”

He grins one last time before walking back to his apartment. 

When she closes her door, she leans up against it. She could officially say that she does indeed have a little growing crush on the repair man, but she doesn’t think much of it. All of her crushes have faded, and with time this one will most likely die out too.

***

A week later, she finds herself calling his now saved number on her phone. He picks up after the first ring.

“Well if it isn’t the Nini Salazar-Roberts aka the woman who’s currency is delicious chocolate chip cookies.”

She laughs into the phone at his nickname for her. “How’d you guess my nickname from college? Have you been stalking me Bowen?”

“It was a lucky guess. As much as I would love if you were calling to just talk to me, I know that you must be calling for another reparation.”

Her smile falls slightly at his words. She didn’t know if he was kidding or not about that. She decides that she’s just overthinking. 

“Yeah unfortunately my shower head stopped working for some unknown reason. Hopefully you aren’t busy right now.”

“You called at the perfect time actually. I just got back from work. I’ll see you in a few.” He says before disconnecting the call.

She was thrown off when he said work because she just kind of assumed he was a full time repair man. Then again, that would explain why he didn’t mind her not paying. Maybe it was just a side hustle or a hobby.

A minute later, she hears the familiar knock on the door. When she opens the door, he just walked right in as if he lived there.

“Yes, you may enter. Thanks for asking.” She says sarcastically.

“Do I smell cookies?” He walks in her kitchen completely ignoring her words.

“Yes you do. I made a new batch 30 minutes ago.”

He licks his lips at the sight of the freshly baked cookies on the platter in front of him.

“Awe you made them just for me. Honestly you’re so sweet and considerate.” He teases.

She blushes, and shakes her head frantically. “What? No! Maybe I just so happen to want to make a batch of cookies with no secret motive.”

He smirks clearly not believing anything she said. “Sure Nini.” He reaches for a cookie, but she smacks his hand.

“Hey no cookies until your job is done, and also I don’t know where your nasty hands have been!” 

He pokes his lip out like a child and rubs his hand. “Ouch, okay mom geez.” He exits the kitchen and walks over to her bedroom to fix the shower head. She follows after him and watches him from her bathroom sink.

As she watched him take apart her shower head, she kept thinking about what his day job must’ve been. 

“What’s your other job?” 

He looks at her confused before remembering their conversation on the phone. 

“Oh I’m a musician and producer at this studio downtown.”

“Wow I didn’t take you for a musician.”

“Yeah well I’m a guitarist during the day and a repair man at night. Now I know how it feels to be living a double life like Hannah Montana.”

She rolls her eyes and laughs at his joke. “I work at a record store a few blocks down.”

“Oh is it Rock Records by any chance?” 

She’s shocked he guessed her exact place of work. “Yeah how’d you know?”

“It’s the only record store in this general area. I kinda put two and two together. Plus, I really like that place. I can’t believe I haven’t met you sooner.”

“Yeah me too. I work there 9-5 Monday to Saturday.” 

“Oh that’s why. I always go after six when I do go because my shift ends at 5:30. Oh well, at least we still got to meet each other.”

“Awe you’re happy you met me? Ricky I didn’t know I meant so much to you.” She kids.

She notices that he faintly blushes at her words as he tampered with the shower head.

“Yeah well kind of.”

She looks at him surprised he didn’t oppose what she said. She was ready for a witty comeback. The room goes silent with the only noises being his tinkering with the shower head. He finally twist the shower head back into place. Without thinking, he turns the water on while still standing in the tub.

He yelps at the sudden feeling of cold water on his skin, and Nini can’t help but laugh at him. “Ricky oh my god, why didn’t you step out first?”

He pokes his tongue at her as he jumped out of the tub with his now soaked shirts. He takes off his plaid button down revealing his white tank top that was pretty uh well...fitting especially since the water made it tighter.

Nini couldn’t help but notice the outline of his torso through his shirt or how big his arms were. Has he always been secretly kinda built? I wonder why he chooses to hide it under all of those plaid shirts. She guesses she shouldn’t be that surprised considering most handymen get a lot of arm work outs.

“Nini for shame. I can’t believe you’re ogling me.” He covers his nipples.

She immediately covers her face from embarrassment of being caught staring. She already knew her face would become red. 

“S-shut up! I wasn’t! Just go get your cookies.” She says in a British accent shooing him to the kitchen.

He chuckles, and they both walk to the kitchen. He stuffs a cookie into his mouth and moans when the pastry makes contact with his tongue.

“Oh my god Neens, this is orgasmic. These taste like the tears of Jesus.” He stuffs another cookie in his mouth and rolls his eyes in the back of his head in pure bliss.

“I’ve never heard someone refer to my cooking as tasting like the tears of Jesus, but I’ll take it.” She stands next to him and takes a cookie. She was stunned by the flavor despite it being her own cooking. She hadn’t eaten any before he got there (yes because they were for him, but she refuses to give him that satisfaction), so she was surprised at how good they were.

“Holy shit, these do taste like the tears of Jesus. I definitely deserve a pat on the back for this.” 

“Damn maybe you should quit your job and become a baker or at least make it a side job.”

“You know, when I retire, I’ll consider that.”

“You better give me some credit since it was my idea.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“My lawyers will be hearing about this.”

“That’s strong Draco Malfoy energy.”

He ends up staying a little longer than both of them intended, but neither seemed to have minded. He had stayed so long that his shirts actually were starting to dry.

When he finally leaves, she decides to give him the entire batch and he surprised her with a hug. She hopes it was the first of many.

***

Nini was sitting with one leg over the other as she read through a magazine from her stores coffee table. It was 4:30, which meant her shift was close to being done. She was excited to go home not because she wanted to rest, but because she already planned on calling Ricky later to fix her broken chair leg.

She overheard the chimes on the door play it’s melody signaling that someone has entered. She doesn’t bother to look up from her magazine. “Welcome to Rock Records.” She says nonchalantly flipping to the next page. She figured it was just another window shopper just strolling by.

“Wow is that how you greet all your customers?” 

Her eyes automatically shoot up when she hears the very familiar voice. She beams when she sees her favorite repair man standing right in front of her at the counter.

“Ricky what’re you doing here?”

He shrugs and rustles through his curls. “I got off work early and figured I’d stop by to see you in action. Thought that you maybe would wanna hang out or something.”

She swears that he’s a little nervous when he spoke, but she decides not to say anything. “You know what’s funny? I was actually gonna call you when I got home. The leg of my chair in the living room broke yesterday.”

She notices that his grin falls a little, but he still keeps up a happy persona. “Oh and I figured we could hang out after you fix the chair. I was thinking I could teach you how to make my famous chocolate chip cookies since you love them so damn much.” She says.

He makes a toothy smile and begins to clap like a seal from excitement. “Yes, I’m so down! Can I maybe make a playlist for it?” He asks holding up his phone. 

“Yeah sounds fine to me. Just make sure Taylor Swift and Harry Styles are on there or the deals off.” 

“Ah I see you have good taste in music too. I shouldn’t be shocked considering you work in a record store.”

“Yeah well I like to play some of their songs on my string instruments, and you probably have good taste since you’re a musician and producer.”

“I didn’t know you played. What do you play?” He rested his head on his hand while the other rested on the counter.

“Ukulele, acoustic guitar, and piano. I’ve been playing since I was in grade school. I even occasionally will make stupid little songs.” 

“I play those instruments too, but I can’t play ukulele that well. Also, I make stupid little songs every once in a while.”

She smiles. “So what I’m hearing is we need to have a jam session where we just go ham on our instruments and sing whatever songs come to our heads.”

He nods his head enthusiastically. “Yes oh my god yes that sounds amazing. Can we do that after the cookies? That would be hella fun.”

“Yeah it’s Saturday, so I don’t have work tomorrow. I guess I gotta make coffee so we both can last through the night.”

“Yep sounds great! I can’t wait for you to get off your shift!”

When her shift ends, they drive their cars to their complex. They do everything they discussed starting with him fixing her chair, then her teaching him how to make her cookies (he burnt a few of them, but she didn’t make him feel bad about it), and ending with them playing whatever instrument was laying around her living room.

They sang until their lungs were begging them to stop (and the neighbors were beginning to get angry). It was honestly the most fun she’s ever had with someone in a very long time.

He ended up spending the night on her couch that night too exhausted to leave from his spot despite literally living down the hall. She didn’t mind one bit. 

She giggles when she hears him silently snoring and wipes some of the leftover chocolate off of his cheek before retiring to her room for the night.

***

She calls him one day stating that she broke her remote. He of course comes over immediately after being requested. At this point, she leaves the door open for him to walk in. For the past few months, he’d come to repair something and then hang out with her.

“What is this like the 17th broken thing in the past three months? I’m pretty sure there’s some ghost purposely breaking shit around your apartment at this point.”

She laughs as she takes out the fresh batch of cookies. There was no point in denying that she made them strictly for him anymore when they both knew the truth. 

“I guess I better call an exorcist instead.”

“If you end up actually having ghost Neens, I’m never coming over here again. I’m sorry, but I do _not_ fuck with spirits.”

“Ah man it’d suck to get another repair man. I’d feel like I’m cheating.”

“The next guy would have a lot to follow up after me.”

“Oh like anyone could truly replace you Ricky.”

His heart skips a beat when she says that. It felt nice to know that he meant something to her.

When he finished fixing her remote, he joined her at her counter. She had a plate of cookies and a cup of hot chocolate waiting for him beside her. He took a bite of the delicious pastry and a sip of his drink.

He hears her giggle under her breath which catches his attention. “What?”

She waves him off and continues to giggle. “It’s nothing.”

“Well it’s clearly something if you’re still laughing.”

“You just have some whip cream on your nose. Here let me get it for you.” 

She grabs a napkin and leans in close to wipe his nose. She didn’t realize how close she was to his face until she removed the napkin. He seemed to have notice too because he was faintly blushing just like her. They had gotten stuck in a staring contest wondering who’d be brave enough to make any movement.

She ends up being the first to move, and she cracks an awkward smile. “Um I was just gonna watch some throwback Disney Channel Original Movies if you wanna join.”

The atmosphere thankfully shifts to friendly again, and he smiles when he hears the word Disney.

“Can we watch Brink! or Johnny Tsunami? Those movies are the reason I got into skating and sports in the first place. Also, they’re both masterpieces.” He asks.

“Yeah I love those movies. Let’s head to the couch.”

They both plopped down on her couch and turned on Johnny Tsunami. They both decide to push that little moment they had under the rug.

***

She presses Ricky’s contact number (which may or may not be the first contact that appears under her favorites) to call about another broken object. He answers half way through the first ring.

“What’d you break this time Sal-Robs?”

“I like how you don’t even greet me anymore at this point.”

“It really shows how our friendship has grown over the past six months.”

“Anyways, I need you to come over now. I broke my sink handle in the kitchen.”

“Jesus Christ, how many times do I have to fix that damn sink? Okay I’ll be over in a few.”

He barges in a minute later with his tools in his hand. He grins at the sight of Nini sitting in a bar stool with cookies already made for him. She clearly had been waiting for him to enter.

“Alright let’s see what the hell is wrong with this sink.” He says plopping his tools on the counter. 

“Yeah it’s so weird that it keeps popping off.” She says playing with her hair.

He picks up the handle and realized quickly that there was no way in hell that this just magically popped off without a little force. It would take a lot of pulling to make it come off the way it did. That’s when the truth hit him.

He couldn’t stop himself from looking up at her with the most smug look. She looks at him confused on why he’s looking at her like that.

“What?” She finally asks when he didn’t stop looking at her.

“Nini, this handle was clearly tampered with.”

She becomes stiff, and he can see the fear in her eyes from being caught. She quickly fixes herself up so that she doesn’t appear suspicious.

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, really.”

“Oh well that’s odd...” She trails off.

“Neens, you don’t have to do that.”

She furrows her brows. “Do what?”

“Break things to get me to come over. I’d gladly come over if you just asked.”

She begins to blush, and she covers her face when she realizes she can’t hide her facial expressions. 

“This is so embarrassing.” She says behind her hands. 

He puts down the handle and walks over to her side of the counter. He gently removes her hands from her face and holds them.

“It’s not embarrassing. It’s actually kind of sweet.” He moves a strand of her hair from her face and pushes it behind her ear.

“You think so?” She says so low it comes off as a whisper.

He nods reassuringly. “Yeah, and you know I think I’ve secretly known you were doing that for a while now, especially after I fixed your remote all those months ago. I just wanted an excuse to come over too.”

She beams and rests her hands on the both sides of his face. His hands find their way to her waist pulling her closer to him while she’s in her chair.

“Can I say something crazy?” She asks.

“I love crazy.”

“Can I kiss you?”

He smiles and nods. “Please.”

They both lean in and meet in the middle. He pulls her closer so that they’re chest to chest while she combs through his chocolate curls. Nini felt like she was in heaven the moment their lips touched. No one has made her feel this alive in her life. She was convinced that she has been waiting for Ricky all of her life without realizing it.

Ricky breaks the kiss for air and kept his eyes closed longer than she did. When they finally met eyes, they both couldn’t help but smile. She pulled him into a tight hug and pressed a kiss on his shoulder.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for you to do that.” He whispers in her ear.

She presses a kiss to his neck before looking back at his face. “I’m just happy you feel the same.”

“Yeah, I was a goner the moment I stepped into your apartment all those months ago.”

She wrinkled her nose before resting her forehead against his. “I was smitten when I first laid eyes on you. I just knew I had to know you.” 

He smiles and presses a kiss on her nose. “That’s so cute Neens.” 

“Yeah tell me something I don’t know Bowen.”

“Oo my cockiness is wearing off on you Sal-Robs.”

“Your personality is contagious.”

“My sarcasm and charm are one of the many side effects of being around me. Take it or leave it.”

She presses a peck on his lips. “I’ll take it.”

“I was hoping you’d say that because there’s no cure.”

They shared another passionate kiss before moving to her couch. They spent the rest of the night eating cookies while watching a bunch of random movies. When she rested her body against his, she felt pure love and happiness. She never wanted this to end. She wanted to come home every day to him. 

She meant it when she said there truly was no one that could compare to him. No one could make her swoon like this or could tease her like him. Ricky came into her life unexpectedly and changed it for the better, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

He was everything she ever wanted.

***

_You are the love that came without warning; you had my heart before I could say no._


End file.
